Abiding Above - March 17, 2015

A person full of the Holy Spirit will have an affect on others because it is really the Spirit who is affecting others. You can talk about the Spirit-filled life and you can teach the Spirit-filled life and you can understand these things, but if you are not controlled by the One you talk about it is really not making much difference in the lives of the ones you are talking to. Paul said in Ephesians 5:18-19 - “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”

You say, “Aren’t we filled with the Spirit of God?” My friend, when you became a child of God there was the initial indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life. He came to live inside of you, but being filled with the Spirit and the fullness of the Spirit can be confusing. You see, we do not get more of God’s Spirit; He gets more of us as we surrender to Him. We are indwelt by the Spirit of God, and we have all of God we are ever going to get. He gave the Spirit to us without measure the way He gave it to His Son, but until we surrender and let Him control us, my friend, we are not walking in the fullness, we are not walking being filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, and making melody in our hearts to the Lord